York Region spinning over its first-ever roundabout

dcnonl.com (Daily Commercial News)
Feb. 27, 2014
Dan O’Reily

Once almost non-existent in Ontario, roundabouts have almost become standard in new and reconstructed road projects.

Standard, however, is not the term that can be used to describe the accelerated design and construction of the first roundabout on a York Region road.

Designed by Robinson Consulting Inc., the single-lane roundabout on the York/Durham Line at Durham Road Five intersection was built last fall by Richmond Hill-based Miwel Construction.

While there was some construction hurdles, primarily the concurrent relocation of utility lines, the real challenge was the intensive effort by York and Durham Regions to place it within lands they owned.

Prior to construction, the juncture of the two roads was irregular in configuration, consisting of a T-intersection with a ramp that facilitated traffic movement to and from the north on the York/Durham Line and to and from the east on Durham Road Five, says Stephen Collins, York Region’s manager of capital delivery.

“Channelized intersections of this nature were used predominantly in the 1950s and 1960s by the Ministry of Transportation and regional municipalities as an inexpensive means of improving the capacity of rural intersections with high traffic volumes and property availability was generally unrestricted.”

But this type of design also increases the number of conflict points and results in poor visibility of approaching traffic for vehicles stopped at the merge points, he says.

“The detrimental impact of these conditions worsens as traffic volumes increase.”

At this particular intersection there were three points of traffic conflict instead of one, as in a conventional intersection. Although well signed, it was confusing for unfamiliar drivers and was potentially dangerous, says Collins.

“There were a lot of anecdotal stories about near (accident) misses. But there was a fatality there a few years ago.”

In late 2012 a feasibility study conducted for York Region by Robinson Consulting confirmed there was an immediate need for improvements. Five different options were analyzed, with a standard multilane roundabout being the technically preferred one, he says.

Proceeding with that option, however, would have required purchasing approximately 0.7 acres of adjacent land from Transport Canada which had acquired it decades ago as part of the proposed Pickering Airport. As land acquisition negotiations with the federal agency can take several years, the two regions opted for a single lane roundabout — one of the five scenarios analyzed in the feasibility study.

In 2013 Robinson Consulting was asked develop a layout that would fit the roundabout within existing regional owned lands. Progressing rather rapidly from the feasibility study into detailed design stage “eliminated any gaps,” says Collins.

By that he means the accelerated process to have designed, built, and opened for traffic by December of last year.

Working with York and Durham technical staff, Robinson created a final design which then “peer reviewed” by Ourston Roundabout Engineering, a firm which focuses on the design and planning of roundabouts. Road users, including the farming community also provided input.

As part of an extensive public consultation, there were a lot of “kitchen table discussions” where regional staff would visit people in their homes to explain how the roundabout would function, says Collins.

Construction began last September and the roundabout was opened, on schedule, in December. In the spring there will be some finishing work including final paving, landscaping, and tree planting, he says.